Record a breeze, victory isn't

Tom Nyariki of Kenya took advantage of an overcast sky, cool breezes, and the push of a strong band of runners to win the Boston Athletic Association Half Marathon in record time yesterday, completing his loop of the Emerald Necklace course in 1 hour 2 minutes 19.4 seconds to shatter Luke Metto's 2004 mark by 37.6 seconds.

Nyariki had a little more kick than defending champion Samuel Ndereba, who finished a second later.

Edna Kiplagat added to her summer treasure trove, winning the women's race in 1:13:35.65, beating Kenyan countrywoman Caroline Chepkorir by 28 seconds to claim her fifth major road race of the year. Kathy Newberry of Williamsburg, Va., finished third in 1:16:44.

Kiplagat first tried to break from Chepkorir on the grounds of the Franklin Park Zoo, but said "there were too many corners." And the footing was slippery.

"I felt confident after the seventh mile, a flat stretch," said Kiplagat, who steadily pulled away in the second half of the race.

The lead pack in the men's race developed quickly. Buoyed by cool air that swept out the heat and humidity of the previous two days, the frontrunners left Roberto Clemente Field in the Fens in a hurry and moved onto the Riverway. By the third mile, there were six leaders, including Ndereba, Nyariki, and three more Kenyans clustered around Martin Fagan, a 24-year-old Irishman and 2006 graduate of Providence College who has just started his road racing career.

Fagan, a rookie at this distance, set the pace for the first 7 miles, leading by a step much of the time and occasionally tucking in behind the pack on flat stretches. Even on the curving road through Franklin Park Zoo, where the race makes its turnaround, Fagan matched the Kenyans and kept the leaders on a course-record pace.

Fagan knew he was in fast company. Runner-up in the NCAA 10,000 meters and fifth in the NCAA cross-country championships in 2006 as well as a two-time Irish 5K champ, Fagan has made the move to road racing with some big plans. He moved to Flagstaff, Ariz., to train at altitude and he'll run his first marathon in January in Houston, hoping to make the 2008 Irish Olympic team by qualifying at the Olympic standard.

"The race got a little bit technical," he said. "I tried to push it in the first half, which is the hardest part of it. It was a good group. I tried to keep it honest at the start. I'm new so I don't have good running knowledge."

Kenyans Ndereba and Nyariki know each other, of course, but had no knowledge of Fagan.

"Today, I know the course record would be broken because this guy [Nyariki] is a fast runner," Ndereba said. "We had to push our way through a lot of guys that I know. I didn't know [Fagan], but now I know he is also good."

Between miles 7 and 8, the 36-year-old Nyariki began to run faster, taking advantage of a long downhill curve out of Franklin Park. The pack thinned behind him as Nyariki threw down a 4:26 mile, the fastest of the race. Only Ndereba stayed close. Fagan dropped back, and trailed by 9 seconds after the Forest Hills bridge.

"That [4:26] is what pretty much hurt everyone," said Fagan. "It caught everyone off guard, including myself.

After that, Fagan was trying to hold on, but Ndereba was still racing. As Nyariki ran down the Riverway return, he opened the gap between him and Fagan (who finished third, 1:03:04.35), but he couldn't shake Ndereba. The 30-year-old stuck by his side, dropping back a few paces, but never going away.

When the duo got to Mile 10, Ndereba pulled even again. That left only a sprint to the finish.

"I was tired," Nyariki said, "And I knew Sammy has a rapid, strong finishing kick."

Nyariki, a stellar runner on the track with a personal best of 12:55.94 in the 5,000 meters, lost his right eye in a carjacking in 2003, and sometimes weaves across the course to keep his closest competitors on his left shoulder, where he can see them. But when he ran onto Clemente Field alongside Ndereba, he focused only on the finish line, and ran straight to the victory.

Barbara Matson can be reached at matson@globe.com.